Once Upon Another Time
by ezriajournal
Summary: After over five years, she still pined for him. She still thought about what her life would've been like if she was able to take it all back. And even though she knew she was stuck with the life she had chosen, was there still room for a happily ever after?
1. Chapter 1

As the thin red hand on the vintage clock passed over the twelve, ending Aria's shift, she shimmied out of the red apron and shook her hair out of her tight ponytail. Aria unbuttoned the white shirt she had to wear everyday with the diner's name monogrammed on the breast and changed into her regular clothing. She waved a quick goodbye to the fry cook as she grabbed her bag from the back room and slid out the exit of the rusty old diner.

As much as Aria hated to make the travel all the way to the apartment building she was trekking to, it was Sunday night. She had no choice but to face her biggest mistake over and over as she took back what was rightfully her's; her son. At age twenty, Aria had said yes to marrying her college love and they eloped, having just a very small wedding with just friends. In was a good idea in theory, but looking back, she just wished she said no. Scott had barely helped out at all after Liam was born. Only coming back to the apartment complaining about his day at work before chugging a beer and going to sleep. And soon enough, Aria was too tired of changing all the diapers and feeling like she was a single parent having to take care of her newborn all by herself. How in hell did he even get rights to see him when the only part of his life he took part of was when he climaxed then rolled over to sleep.

Aria only had two major regrets in life. Marrying Scott far too young was one of them. She thought about it every time she made the walk from the diner to his apartment in Manhattan. They were far too young to get married even after two years of being together. They were blindly in love when they decided to have a child, but once Liam was born and Scott's job took off, their entire relation began to crumble and Aria realized the kind of person that he really was.

Aria rapped on the wooden door of Scott's apartment. It took a few moments before she heard footsteps behind it and looked down, not wanting to look into Scott's eyes again. She only had to see him two times in a week, it didn't mean that she had to be courteous to him or like it. In reality she badly wanted to splash a glass of cold water in his face, though it would only tame a little bit of the fiery grudge she held on him all this time.

"Aria," He greeted coolly as the door swung open and leaned against the door frame. He watched Aria stand in the doorway silently as she tried to locate Liam in the apartment living room without sparing him a glance, which was hard with him standing smack in the middle of the doorway. She stayed quiet and kept her arms crossed along her chest as she felt her ex-husband's eyes burning a hole in the top of her head. Before she knew it though, a little boy with their shared brown hair and Scott's brown eyes ran through the living room and clung to Aria's legs, making the stone cold expression she kept in front of Scott fade to one of pure joy once her little boy's arms wrapped around her thighs.

"Momma!" Liam giggled excitedly as Aria lifted him up and kissed his cheek, leaving a red lip print on the little boy's face. Scott reached out and mussed up Liam's hair in a playful before handing Aria the Batman overnight bag Liam always brought whenever he spent the weekend at his father's.

"He was good. I brought him to the Bronx Zoo yesterday. We had fun, didn't we buddy?" Scott asks as he winks to his son and earns an eager nod back, but only a clearing of the throat and a less interested nod from Aria.

"Sounds like fun, Scott. But Liam and I have to go. It's a while back to the apartment." She responds icily as she hoisted Liam's bag on to her shoulder and gave a curt look goodbye as Scott backed off and pushed himself off of the door frame, walking back slowly into his apartment as Aria started down the hallway with Liam. Liam started talking excitedly about his weekend with his father while they walked down the halls and into the lobby. Aria wanted to listen to Liam as he talked with such enthusiasm about the animals at the zoo and about the tiger stuffed animal Scott had bought him from the gift shop, but she was busy navigating through the city and trying to hail a cab to get back to Brooklyn.

It was a long, painful night, but Aria let out a sigh of relief once she stepped into their apartment. It wasn't much, and it was nowhere as near as nice as Scott's but it's what Aria was able to afford with a waitress's salary and child support checks. Once placed back down on the floors of his home, Liam took his tiger stuffed animal out of his over night bag and smiled brightly as he followed Aria into his room.

She quickly had him brush his teeth and go to the bathroom before he went to bed, and she was exhausted by the time that she had gotten Liam tucked into bed and finally calm enough from talking about his adventure at the zoo to sleep. "Goodnight, Liam." Aria whispers as she pecks the top of his head and turns off the little lamp on his night table. But before she could even stand up, Liam caught her hand and squeezed it to get her attention.

He paused briefly, as if he was trying to gather the words to say what he wanted, before blurting out, "Why don't you and Dad live together?" making Aria feel horrible for never fully explaining why she and Scott weren't together anymore. She had tried to explain it before, but he was only five. She didn't know if he would be able to grasp the concept.

She took a second before answering anything, not wanting to confuse him. "Me and your father just... don't get along as well as we used to. So we thought that it would be best if we didn't live together anymore." She says simply before pressing a kiss to his head again. "But it's late, honey. If you want, we can talk about this more in the morning." Liam nods, knowing not to press his mother on certain things before dropping Aria's hand and watching as she slowly walks out of the room and closes his door until there's only a small sliver of it open.

Aria presses her hands stress fully against her face and pulls out a wine bottle from the kitchen counter as well as a large glass. She was used to these nights, after placing Liam to sleep, she would spend hours before actually going to sleep drinking wine and regretting what she had done with herself. Not that she didn't love Liam, she loved him with all of her heart. But she just wished that she had given birth later than sooner, because the first months of taking care of him were pain when there was only her doing all of the work and awake constantly at four in the morning as she rocked her newborn back to sleep. While Scott slept like a rock and didn't give a damn if she only got thirty minutes of sleep the night before because "he was the only one bringing in money for the family". There wasn't anything in the world that burned Aria up more than thinking about Scott and the first few months they had spent together after they had their baby.

But it wasn't just that mistake that kept Aria up at night. Even though marrying Scott had been at the top of her list for the stupidest decisions shes ever made, it wasn't number one. It wasn't the thing that made her cry at night, wishing that things could have ended differently between them. Wishing that years ago she had the guts to chase after what she knew was right.

Letting Ezra Fitz slip out of her fingers like crumbled pieces of sand was by far the biggest mistake of Aria's life. There was not a moment that passed when she wasn't thinking about how different her life could have been if she hadn't agreed with Ezra that breaking up after months of long distance was the right thing to do. It definitely was not the right thing to do because before she knew it, she had drunkenly landed in the arms of her next handsome mistake. A mistake that would cost her the rest of her twenties and the happiness and plans that she had for the future.

As Aria gulped down the last of the cheap, seven dollar red wine she had gotten from the drug store, her emotions overwhelmed her. She wasn't doing well at all. She was only twenty five and having to care for a five year old and manage her own apartment and was already divorced. All the plans for the future that she thought up of at sixteen when she was hopelessly in love with the man she thought she was going to marry were crushed. Living in the Big Apple off of just being a waitress was not the way she pictured herself in the future. She loved Liam more than anything, but it just stressed her out that maybe she wasn't the best person to take care of him when she barely had enough money to take care of herself and pay for the apartment.

As her tears spilled out of her eyes like the remaining droplets of wine in the tipped over glass, she reminded herself of what she had told herself for the past years when she had to fend for herself. She was doing this for Liam, she was going to do whatever was best for him. She couldn't give up this easily on her happy ending.


	2. Chapter 2

**I completely forgot to put an Author's note on the first chapter and I apologize. I published that chapter really early and I spaced on it, haha. So this is my new story. If anyone out there is a HIMYM fan, I think you can ****_maybe_**** guess what storyline this story will be based off of. But here's to the second chapter and I hope you all enjoy!**

"Come on, baby. We have to get going," Aria said as she pulled on her black trench coat and slid her bag over her shoulder. Liam nodded and shoved the last spoonful of Cheerios into his mouth before rushing to put his bowl in the sink. Aria put on her black flats and waited for Liam at the door as he grabbed his lunch bag and his own coat before hurrying out of the apartment door.

Her insane intake of wine last night and the outflow of strong emotions left her exhausted and irritable the next morning. But her strict policy to herself to never snap or yell at Liam, even when he was a bit slow that morning, stuck strong. As the walked, hand in hand to Liam's elementary school, Liam tugged on her hand.

"When are you coming home?" He asked simply as they came to the front door of the school. Aria bent down and kissed his forehead, knowing that like Scott all those years ago, Aria was coming home from the diner late and leaving Liam at his friend's house for a while before she came home. But she had to make a living somehow and until she found something better, waitressing was all she had.

"Late, baby. But I'll see you soon, okay? Be good for Miss Donna this afternoon," Aria said as she opened the door for her son and watched as he walked down the short hallway and into his kindergarten classroom. She didn't exactly know what time she'd be back home, whatever time she deemed do-able to leave and whenever she got enough cash in tips to keep her satisfied until she got her monthly payment. Her boss was pretty flexible and let Aria leave when she needed to, knowing her position in life and slightly sympathizing with her, but most nights Aria would stay as long as she needed to to scrape up the money she needed to survive. And that was pretty late.

Miss Donna was a gift sent from the angels. She was the mother of one of Liam's friends in his class. Once she saw Aria racing to pick up Liam and was frantic to find a baby sitter before she had to go to work, she offered to watch Liam after he and her son finished school everyday. Liam always had a good time at their house and Aria was finally relieved once that problem was all solved and she knew her little boy was in good hands.

Aria knew she had a few hours until she needed to start her shift and walked back home. The usual smell of the city, gasoline, cigar smoke and the sewer, was something Aria was well acquainted with by her seventh year living in the city. The foul smell didn't faze her as much as it did her first month or two of walking the streets constantly, when she was usually hand in hand with her new beau.

As Aria unlocked the door to her place, she let out a sigh of relief and walked into the kitchen. She suddenly remembered though, that she had drank the last of the wine the previous night and mentally reminded herself to pick some up later. A soft groan escaped Aria's lips as the thought hit her and she opened the fridge to try and find something close to the alcohol she was craving, but nothing. The closest thing she had was apple cider, and not the spiked kind.

Her eyes drifted to the clock above the stove and she counted down the moments before she had to head out the door. As much as she hated her job, she hated being alone in the apartment more. Even watching Liam run around the place and play with his action figures was more entertaining to her than staring off at the brick walls she was confined in. Being in the apartment alone only left her with her thoughts, and those led her to becoming greatly depressed and made her think deeper about how deep of a rut she was in.

Besides Liam, there was nothing positive about the life she was living. She tried dating, but every guy turned out to be a scum bag and she really didn't have time for finding someone, it just wasn't her top priority. She wasn't happy with her job, she wasn't happy with her location. And she definitely wasn't happy that she was a divorced mother dangling between the lines of lower middle class and poor at just twenty five, she was too young to be going through all the stress.

After a few hours of self loathing and wishing she had just a bit of alcohol to clean her up, Aria slid on her coat again and headed out in to the cold, lonely streets.

The back way she entered the diner smelled of petrol and burning grease, which was a typical scent for the run down place. They still got tons of business, but the place was as old as the city, and clearly and proudly showed that age. Aria changed into the standard white dress shirt again and tied the red apron around her waist and neck. She grabbed a notepad from the counter and waited for food to arrive and bring to people or a couple that she could practice politics on.

A few hours of welcoming customers to the diner and carrying piping hot plates on her arms passed by, and Aria knew that it was getting late, and she had racked up enough money to keep her and Liam going for the week.

"Just serve this last customer coming in and you can leave after that," The manager said as he saw Aria counting her tips and shoving them back into her apron pocket. Aria saw a man being led by the hostess into a booth and nodded, grabbing a menu from the stack of them on the counter. She knew Liam could wait another half hour or so.

Aria cleared her throat and walked out into the aisle of booths and found the man's seat. "Welcome to the Empire Diner, I'm Aria and I'll be your waitress." She recites for the hundredth as she fixes her untied apron strings and sets the menu down in front of him. Aria didn't bother glancing up at him until she was done, but she regretted even doing that. The man's face was frozen, struck in a trance of some sort once she arrived. And as soon as she looked up from behind her, so was she.

"Aria?" The man said as he gulped and shook his head as she tried to wrap his mind around what was going on. Aria thought about bolting; apologizing to the manager and asking the hostess to take care of her customer. What happened, should not have been.

"Ezra?" Aria croaked as she tried to compose herself and not make a scene in front of other customers and her co-workers. The last time they talked, she was ending it. Telling him that he was right, that maybe she should take the time she had in college for herself and maybe they'd cross paths again. But if she had one moment to make different, Aria knew that she wouldn't even think twice before changing what happened the night she called Ezra with her final decision. But now he was right in front of her, looking almost exactly the same as he did seven years ago. And Aria had no idea what she was doing, standing there like a fish out of water with her mouth open in shock.

Ezra gave a dry chuckle and crossed his arms, but it wasn't hostile. He didn't look angry one bit. And that surprised Aria seeing that she left him all those years ago and that turned out to be the biggest mistake of her life. He flashed a smile and looked up nostalgically up at her, as if she was a photo or something. He didn't say a word.

"H-how are you? Can I get you anything to drink?" Aria asked as casually as possible. She just wanted to get out of the situation and go home, this wasn't an appropriate time for him to crash into her life and smile at her like the past seven years didn't happen. Ezra just smiled and looked down at his menu for the first time since Aria had come to his table. Once she had arrived he had an aching feeling that it was her, but once she spoke and stated her name to him, he knew for sure.

"Just a water, thank you. But I'm good, how are you?" Ezra responds as he looks her up and down, studying her exhausted appearance. Aria did the same and noticed him all dressed up in a suit and tie, his hair neatly combed and cut, and his face freshly shaven. Aria swallowed hard and felt her hands clam up as she grappled on what to say to him. She surely couldn't just admit to him that she was doing terribly and fall into his arms. But she didn't want to lie to him, who knew if they'd ever see each other again.

"I'm... good as well. B-but I'll be right back with your drink." She says quickly as she rushes off before he can even open his mouth again to stop her. Aria ran to the kitchen to take a deep breath and try to hold on to something to tell her that what was happening was real. She didn't know if this was a sign of her changing her fate and finally chasing after that fairy tale ending she yearned for, or if this was the world forcing something on her so she can finally let it go. Because she never truly got over Ezra since that moment she called him up to tell him that it was over, for the time being.

As Aria filled up a glass with water and looked back at where Ezra was, he was just calmly looking down at his menu and analyzing the various options of things he could get at ten at night.

She was never one to take a leap of faith, but at that moment, Aria knew it was now or never. She might never see Ezra again, and whether this was life's way of repaying her for running her through the wringer, she knew that he might slip through her fingers again and she would regret her ever letting him go again.

**Thank y'all so much for reading, don't forget to leave a review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**(A/N): There's a 'flash back' to their conversation since this is after the diner.**

"How was he?" Aria asked as she heard Liam squealing in laughter as Donna's son, Nathan, made fake explosion noises and crashed his toy Hess truck into the sofa leg. Donna waved her off and looked back at the two boys playing with their toy trucks and action figures until Aria called Liam to get his book bag.

"Aria, that boy is the most well behaved five year old I've ever met. I don't know what you do with him or how you raised him, but I've never seen a boy with such manners." Donna said as she saw Liam sitting back down with his backpack around his shoulders and continuing to play with Nathan. "Before you call him back over again, how are you? Really." She asked as she catches Aria's hand and gives a gentle smile. Donna had been Aria's means of venting once they meant and Aria felt glad that finally she had someone nearby her to make sure she was still alive and sane.

"I'm fine. I mean, I'm still making the money I need to scrape myself along and feed Liam every day and night. Paying rent next week is going to mean Liam might have to sleep over." Aria gulped, she hated to put that kind of stress on Donna to have to feed another mouth almost every night at her dinner table. Aria begged Donna night after night to let her pay her for what she did, but she insisted that Aria needed the money more than she did.

"Oh, honey. Liam is able to sleep over any time you need him to. It's no problem at all. He keeps Nathan busy and that's a relief for me. I'd rather have them playing video games in the living room than him bouncing off the walls with nothing to do," She reassured her kindly. Aria bit her lip before calling Liam over and giving him a big kiss on the cheek as he hugged her close. Donna grinned as she saw Aria and Liam reunite after hours of being apart and After saying their goodbyes and thank you's to Donna and Nathan, Aria walked hand in hand back into the streets and she hailed a cab so they could get home as quick as possible.

Aria was thankful that Liam fell asleep on her shoulder during the taxi ride, she had a lot to think about with seeing Ezra just about an hour ago. The whole hour extra or so she spent talking to him felt unreal, like somehow she was knocked out and she dreamt the whole thing. Part of her wished that it was just some crazy, far fetched dream and he was off with some other woman. But no, he lived in New York, he had been for _three years._ He had hoped to someday run into her and start things all over again, and she remembered his good-natured chuckle once he smiled up at her and saw that his wish had finally came true.

Once Aria had tucked a sleeping Liam into his bed, she sat on her own, wondering what kind of mixed up messages the world was sending her. Seeing Ezra and getting to vaguely talk to him was a highlight of her week, nay year. He was still the same charismatic, caring man that she knew years before. But now, he owned a fancy publishing firm in the city was making triple the amount of money she made annually. She was begrudgingly glad that at least their break up benefited one of them.

At the end of his meal and their awkward conversation, he had slipped his napkin to her that contained his number, and he urged her to call at any time. Aria thought about just throwing the napkin away and letting that part of her go. Seven years was enough time to tell herself that she needed to let all that happened and was left open ended go. But instead she slipped it into her jeans pocket and watched as Ezra left the due amount of money in the check book and slid out of the booth, saying a goodbye to the hostess before leaving in all his damn glory.

Aria had been struck as she watched him leave just hours ago. He had stuck his hands into the pockets of his suit and gave her one last glance before walking out the door. Neither of them had planned that sudden meet up to happen, and neither of them knew what do after.

Her hand went to her back pocket again as she retrieved the napkin, and there in messy blue ink from his ballpoint pen was his number. His handwriting was still the same; scrawled and more like chicken scratch. She could do whatever she wanted with it. She could call him and give love a chance again, or throw it away and accept that that part of her was gone. They went seven years with radio silence, Aria broke all ties she could with him once she met Scott, but he was always at the back of her mind. But they hadn't spoken in so long, and people tend to change, she knew she had. Her perspective was much less optimistic than it had been as a cheeky girl going fresh into college with big ambitions. But those ambitions only led to a child she could barely support, a bitter divorce, and an English degree diploma with little to no purpose but to take space on her wall.

_Her heart leapt into her throat as he asked her to sit down once she brought over his water. Aria slowly sunk into the booth across from him and kept her eyes on his as if he was a lion about to pounce._

_ "How have you been? I haven't heard from you since... you know," Ezra said with a small glimmer of remorse in his eyes. Aria tapped her nails on the table, they were broken and gnawed down to nubs on her fingers. She looked down towards the menu he kept in front of him, but he seemed more interested in her than the five dollar all-you-can-eat pancakes._

_ "I'm fine, there nothing much to really say." She said as she picked at the bit of nail she had left and observed his appearance for the hundredth time. The corners of his lips turned up a bit and he shook his head._

_ "There has to be... it's been seven years, Aria." He reminded her as he glanced down at her name-tag as if he forgot her name. Aria tried to swallow the lump in her throat and decided then to not dump all her problems and not mention Scott or Liam or anyone. She just shrugged._

_ "Not really, life's been pretty bland. I graduated college with a degree that I can't use. I have a dead end job here..." She ranted, but soon shut up as she realized she was only going to make him ask more prying questions. Ezra cocked an eyebrow and nodded, lifting his water glass up to his lips. "How have you been? You seem like you were somewhere important," Aria observed as she looked down at his attire. Ezra followed her gaze and shook his head. _

_ "Not really, just a meeting for people trying to pitch books to me, I'm a publisher now. I have my own company and everything." He boasted as he straightened himself up and smiled. Aria nodded and acted interested so he would drop the topic of how she was. The conversation continued like that, with Aria trying to deter the conversation away from her and just giving vague answers until she glanced at the clock and fibbed._

_ "Ah, my shifts over..." She said as the clock struck eleven. Ezra's face fell as Aria got up and took off her apron, it was then that he had scribbled his number and murmured, "Call me," as he left. He had left a more than generous tip._

She was thankful that Liam was passed out as a spot on the napkin was now covered with wetness and running mascara. Aria held her hand against her mouth as silent tears slipped from her tear-ducts and down her cheeks, on to the material containing her fate. In a small fit of stubborn rage, Aria got up and shoved the napkin in the dresser of her bedroom. It was a small, quaint space she could call her own, but it was as good as money could afford. She heard the bed springs squeaking underneath her as she fell backwards on to the mattress and sighed heavily. She covered her face with her hands and just decided to make up her mind later.

**What do you think is going to happen next? Will Aria reach out to Ezra or will she let that part of herself go? Leave a review and tell me what you think!**


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